Historically, what is the reason for Russia's pervasive alcohol problem? (people, German)
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Boredom. The peasantry had little to do for fun in their villages so drinking was/is their entertainment. It didn't really get in the way of their manual unskilled labor.
I think it was encouraged by the government back in tsarist times? It made a huge portion of their taxes.
“In the 1540s, Ivan the Terrible began setting up kabaks (кабак) or taverns in his major cities to help fill his coffers;[12][13] a third of Russian men were in debt to the kabaks by 1648.[13] By 1860, vodka, the national drink, was the source of 40% of the government's revenue.[13]” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alco...Russia#History
Boredom. The peasantry had little to do for fun in their villages so drinking was/is their entertainment. It didn't really get in the way of their manual unskilled labor.
Makes no sense, the vast majority of the world populated farming villages, but you don't here about alcohol problems being pervasive elsewhere.
It is a Russian phenomenon, why?
PS. I lived in a boring village with nothing to do. Me and a friend would go skip rocks by the river all day. People find ways to occupy themselves.
Makes no sense, the vast majority of the world populated farming villages, but you don't here about alcohol problems being pervasive elsewhere.
It is a Russian phenomenon, why?
PS. I lived in a boring village with nothing to do. Me and a friend would go skip rocks by the river all day. People find ways to occupy themselves.
The rest of the world went through the industrial revolution while Russians were still enslaved. Russians were freed in the 1860's but still mostly rural and destitute... then re-enslaved in the USSR. Drink is what to do when you're poor and have limited venues. It was also culturally acceptable. Getting drunk on the job during the soviet times wasn't that unusual either.
I experienced the drinking culture there first hand and while its not as bad as you describe it, its still pretty bad. But this is nearly the same in half of Europe too.
The rest of the world went through the industrial revolution while Russians were still enslaved. Russians were freed in the 1860's but still mostly rural and destitute... then re-enslaved in the USSR. Drink is what to do when you're poor and have limited venues. It was also culturally acceptable. Getting drunk on the job during the soviet times wasn't that unusual either.
I experienced the drinking culture there first hand and while its not as bad as you describe it, its still pretty bad. But this is nearly the same in half of Europe too.
By the rest of the world do you mean the US, Western Europe and Japan?
So why is alcoholism to prevalent in Russia, and why is it still so today?
Cold weather probably. I find it hard to believe that non-drinkers exist in countries like Sweden, Ireland, Russia etc.
Why? Sweden definitely has its non-drinkers. But it also has a lot of people who only drink maybe once/year on a special occasion. Russians are good at coming up with justifications for "special occasions": national holidays, friend/relatives visiting, special guests from a broad, or just getting together with friends. Or no reason at all: simply the weekend.
But I wouldn't say that about all Russians.
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